Italy’s Mario Balotelli has been linked with a move to Arsenal (Picture: AP Photo)

Reports abound today that Arsenal have agreed a £15.8m fee for former Manchester City man Mario Balotelli.

The player, a tortured genius who has struggled to settle himself at any of the clubs he has played for so far, has been linked with Arsenal for the entirety of the summer so far.

Of course, I have no inside knowledge and it’s quite possible that Arsenal have made a bid, but I doubt very much that the only source to have the details of that would be ‘CaughtOffside’ which is where the main reports all seem to have stemmed from.

Balotelli also does not seem like a Wenger-type signing. For the first time in the last decade the Arsenal squad is a beautiful beacon of harmonious friendliness. There appear to be no drama queens amongst the squad upsetting others or causing ructions simply to salve their egos. Signing Balotelli would disrupt all of that and could end up offsetting any benefit the player would bring to the squad.

It is claimed that personal terms have already been agreed with the player but I just don’t see this being a deal Arsenal are looking to complete. Like the links with Loic Remy, who seems destined to move to Liverpool, it could very well be that this is more a case of the press producing the links than any genuine interest from Arsenal.

Arsenal were said to have walked away from trying to sign Remy as the striker was demanding £80k per week, a sum too rich for Arsenal’s tastes. Odd then that he is believed to have signed a deal for around £60k per week with Liverpool.

Obviously, should I be proven wrong, I’d have faith that Wenger would be able to handle Balotelli’s eccentricities. I’m just not entirely convinced that he will want to have to in the first place.